How Accurate Is a Radar Gun?

Posted By Mark Bigger || 1-Aug-2017

Although other methods of measuring speed are either in production or in
use in California and other states, a radar gun is still one of the most
widely used and most accurate methods used by law enforcement (LE) officers
to substantiate speeding tickets. The reliability of the Radar gun can
diminish over time from its most recent calibration and since an LE officer
must use a tuning fork to keep it up to date can also be called into question
if the officer is not trained on the device.

How Does a Radar Gun Work?

Quite simply, a Radar gun sends out a radio frequency (RF) signal, which
bounces off the vehicle and comes back to the gun. The Radar gun uses
a Doppler shift or effect to record the change in the RF signal to determine
the speed of the oncoming vehicle. A shift in the RF signal measures the
distance between wave crests as it approaches the location of the Radar
gun to determine the speed of the approaching vehicle.

What Are Some of the Other Methods Used by LE?

The Light Detection and Ranging or LIDAR method is much like Radar, except
that it uses laser technology rather than a radio frequency. This technology
uses the speed of sound to determine speed. It is comparable to the effect
on your hearing as an approaching storm, you see the lightning before
hearing the thunder because the speed of light is much greater than the
speed of sound. The laser pointed at a vehicle depends on the formula
rate x time = distance and measures the distance several times within
seconds to determine vehicle speed.

Visual Average Speed Computer and Recorder or VASCAR are not very accurate
due to the possibility of human error starting and stopping the timer
and the possibility of other devices using radio waves, such as cellular
phones and television signals can interfere with it.

Any system to measure one point on the highway and how fast you get to
another point on the highway used solely to determine speed is illegal,
such as when an aircraft is used to spot an alleged speeder on the freeway
is illegal in CA. One reason this method is illegal is the distance and
timing and another is the high possibility of mistaken identity, it may
be easy to determine the color of a vehicle from the air but exactly which
white car was guilty of speeding may be impossible to determine from the
air, so a vehicle pacing the speeder after being identified by the aircraft
will make it difficult to challenge.

Challenging a Speeding Ticket

Whether to challenge a speeding ticket in court or not is a decision that
should not be made without input from a local traffic ticket attorney.
These lawyers sit in traffic court on a near daily basis so they are familiar
with what challenges are working and which are not. Hopefully, you did
not admit guilt to the ticketing officer, as this could make it very difficult
to defend, not impossible, but more difficult. Be sure to tell your lawyer
if you admitted guilt, though it will most likely be noted in the LEO’s
statement. LEOs are very adept at getting you to admit guilt, everyone
has likely heard, “Do you know how fast you were going?” or
“You were speeding, weren’t you?” answering yes to either
of those questions is an admission of guilt and very hard to dispute in court.

Radar guns, although very accurate, can be challenged if calibration was
not up to date, the LE officer’s training was not completed, the
weather was bad, or when mistaken identity was possible due to many similar
colored cars on the highway. Many will consider the price of a 1-15 mph
over the speed limit ticket is only $35 and they should just pay the fine.
That is until they find out the real price of that ticket is $230-250
depending on which county you were ticketed in and before an adjustment
to your insurance premium for at least three years. Losing your “good
driver’s” discount will cause your insurance premium to rise
25% or more depending on your status and your insurance carrier. Since
CA insurance companies are not allowed to use your credit rating as a
basis for calculating your premium, more emphasis is placed on your driving
record. In CA, your basic 1-15 mph over the limit speeding ticket could
raise your insurance premium $1000 or more over the three-year period
following a conviction. Therefore, that basic speeding ticket is not as
inexpensive as you thought it was initially. So, consult a traffic ticket
attorney before you decide.

Hire a Neighborhood Traffic Ticket Lawyer

When you require representation in traffic court for a traffic ticket,
contact Bigger & Harman, 661-349-9300 for a FREE phone consultation
before you decide on what action to take. Send an email
to attorney@markbigger.com.

Bigger & Harman are your neighborhood ticket defenders and regularly
represent clients in Central Valley CA in traffic courts in Hanford, Bakersfield,
or Independence courtrooms in Kings, Kern, Inyo, Fresno and other Central
Valley counties, as well as some SoCal counties, such as Riverside, SLO,
San Bernardino, and LA County.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only.
Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.